Beak
Beak was a mage and part of Sergeant Gripe's squad in the Malaz 14th Army.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 13, UK BCA edition p.391 Likely the 8th Legion, 9th Company. His thoughts and actions were guileless and almost childlike. He had very low self-esteem and did not think of his magic abilities as being anything out of the ordinary. At the time of the invasion of the Letherii Empire by the Bonehunters, he was probably thirty six years of age.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 13, UK BCA edition p.393 In Reaper's Gale After a short interview with Beak, during which she found out that he was able to access all of the Warrens, Captain Faradan Sort chose Beak to accompany her during the invasion. He soon proved his value by revealing an extraordinary knowledge of the potentially harmful sorcerous history of a proposed campsite, leading them to abandon it.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 13, UK BCA edition p.391-395 Captain Sort used Beak's extraordinary tracking abilities to make contact with the various squads as the marines penetrated, guerrilla style, into Lether deep behind enemy lines.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 2, UK BCA edition p.735 (example) ] The squads eventually regrouped as they got closer to Letheras and on a Plain close to the city faced a large force of Tiste Edur on one side and Letherii soldiers on the other. When the Letherii mages staged a massive sorcerous attack, Beak erected a dome shaped barrier around the marines. The Edur found they had been betrayed by the Letherii and were about to die in the sorcerous attack but Fiddler waved them forward to take shelter within the dome and Beak extended its parameter to enclose the Edur as well. All were shielded from the sorcerous onslaught of the Letherii. Beak sacrificed himself to open all of his Warrens simultaneously in order to power the barrier. Those he protected were also cleansed and came out of the protective dome with white hair and uniforms, except for Gesler and Stormy, whose appearances took on a golden aspect even more fiery than before.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 22, UK BCA edition p.735-742, 749-759 Hood himself met Beak at Hood's Gate, where he was reunited with his brother.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 22, UK BCA edition p.759/760 The Bonehunters erected a barrow for Beak, consisting of pieces of personal belongings, weapons etc. which had reached nearly the height of a man by the time they left for Letheras.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 24, UK BCA edition p.812/813 Later, Bottle speculated whether Beak's sacrifice was truly worth it, as the lives of eight hundred marines could not possibly be enough to compensate for the life of a single natural High Mage. Quick Ben was the only mage with comparable abilities, but he was elsewhere. Sinn was available, but Bottle considered her insane.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 24, UK BCA edition p.816 History ]Beak was born into a rich Quon Talian noble family. Growing up, he had been beaten regularly by most of his tutors who also convinced him that he was stupid. Beak guilelessly recalled that his mother would crawl into his brother's bed when their father was away and that he himself used to pretend to be asleep when that happened. On one occasion however, he had sat up, and she had beaten him to the extent that, according to the House healer, he had almost died.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 13, UK BCA edition p.392/393 Beak witnessed his brother's suicide firsthand and tried to rescue him but was too young and/or too simple to understand what was happening and his attempt failed.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 22, UK BCA edition p.753-755 It is likely that he was responsible for the deaths of his parents and tutors since he recalled showing them the full light of his candle after they tried to take away the knife he had been given by their blacksmith who had been whipped and driven off for doing so and he had not seen them since. Beak was probably twenty-nine years at the time.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 13, UK BCA edition p.394 Magical talent ] It is unclear if Beak's reference about discovering poetry after the trauma of nearly dying led to him discovering magic or whether it led to him being sexually abused by his mother in the same way as his brother.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 13, UK BCA edition p.392 He called the Warrens "candles" and each one had its own colour: *Blue (various shades) for Kurald Emurlahn, Kurald Galain (deepest blue), Rashan (deep blue)Reaper's Gale, Chapter 14, UK BCA edition p.435 *Blue with 'skuzzy' foam for chaotic power/sick power *Green for Ruse *Grey for Mockra *Orange for Tellann *Purple - possibly for SercReaper's Gale, Chapter 14, UK BCA edition p.436 *White for Hood *Yellow for Thyr Beak was initially taught magic by a Seti witch who was in charge of the stables at the family's country estate and who showed him the Seti ways of magic. Later, she also found other servants who taught him what they knew about Warrens. According to the family's half-Fenn blacksmith, Beak eventually had gained access to every Warren there was.Reaper's Gale, Chapter 13, UK BCA edition p.393 Notes and references de:Schnabel Category:High Mages Category:Males Category:Soldiers Category:Bonehunters